Drug trafficker sentenced to death in Indonesia

A Nigerian man, Michael Titus Igweh, has been sentenced by an Indonesian High Court for drug trafficking.

According to a report by Fairfax, Igweh whose initial job was an importer of clothing material was caught in possession of heroin by the Indonesian Police force but refused to confess. He only made the confession after he was electrocuted in his genitals.

"I was constantly beaten, and my genitals electrocuted until I was helpless. In fact, I was threatened to be shot," he narrated.

Igweh's lawyer, Sitor Situmorang, in his client’s defence said that he was convicted based on the testimony of two alleged accomplices,Marlena and Izuchukwu Okoloaja, who died in police custody and therefore could not testify in court. He argued that the Supreme Court judges should try cases based on the law and not to achieve popularity or appear tough.

"We accepted Michael's case because we saw it had merit. Out of the many requests from prisoners on Nusakambangan, we only took this. We believe Marlena and Okoloaja gave Michael's name just so the police would stop torturing them.

They were healthy when they were arrested, they had no history of illness, and they all just suddenly died while in police custody. We all know what that means," he argued

Indonesia in spite of criticism by human rights group and the United Nation continues to mete out the death penalty.